Why women are burning Hijab in Iran?

16th September 2022, another day where a woman’s right was deprived, and on that day, she not only fought for her rights but also died while doing the same. Want to know who are we talking about? Her name is Mahsa Amini, daughter of Amjad Amini. She is an Iranian woman who died in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances due to police brutality. Let’s know in detail about the entire hijab news that is the Iran hijab protest in this article. 

Who was Mahsa Amini?

Mahsa Amini, popular as Jina, was a 22-year-old lady from the Kurdistan province of Iran's western city of Saqqez. Mahsa Amini was on vacation with her family; Iranian morality police seized her at a Tehran metro station and took her into custody; according to eyewitnesses, she was abused on the way to a detention facility. After three days in a coma, Amini passed away in a hospital in Iran.

Reason for the death of Iranian girl

You might have heard about Iran news mahsa. According to authorities, Amini was jailed for disobeying an Iranian regulation that mandates women to cover their limbs with loose clothing and their hair with a headscarf (also known as Hijab). The mandatory hijab rule in Iran, which came into place in 1981 following the Islamic Revolution in the country, is selectively and frequently arbitrarily applied; in fact, Amini's mother asserted that her daughter was donning the appropriate long, loose robe.

Reason behind Iran Protest

Hijab in Iran news- Amini was detained by the Guidance Patrol, a vice unit of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Law Enforcement Command in charge of monitoring the public's compliance with hijab laws, since her hijab did not meet the requirement. She reportedly went into heart failure at a stop, collapsed on the ground, and passed away after two days in a coma, according to the police. Based on her leaked medical scans and the testimony of witnesses, it was determined that she had suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and a stroke. She also reportedly had her head struck on the side of a police car. 

Amini was declared brain dead when she was admitted, according to a statement posted on Instagram by the hospital where she received treatment. Since then, the Instagram post has been taken down.

Kiaresh, Amini's brother, saw that she had scratches on her head and legs. Amini was severely beaten, according to the other ladies who were imprisoned with her, for defying the officers' profanities and taunts. 

Several medical professionals believed that Amini had brain damage based on his clinical signs, which included bleeding from his ears and bruising under his eyes. This was further supported by hacktivist-leaked medical scans of her skull that revealed a bone fracture, hemorrhage, and brain edema.

Worldwide protests

Amini's passing drew a strong response from people worldwide, and some news outlets claim that it became a symbol of violence against women in the Islamic Republic of Iran and led to a wave of demonstrations nationwide. To prevent the demonstrators from uniting, the Iranian government restricted internet access and prohibited access to numerous apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp. Since the Internet was entirely shut down in Iran in 2019, these might be the country's toughest internet restrictions to date.

There have been demonstrations outside the Iranian consulate in Istanbul, Tehran, and other cities. Women across the globe were seen burning their hijabs and chanting, "Women, life, freedom," and "Death to the dictator," about Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader. Many women in Kerman, an Iranian city where women are required to wear hijabs in public, took to the streets to protest Amini's death. The circumstances surrounding Amini's death have the United States "extremely concerned," according to Jake Sullivan, national security adviser for the country.

On September 21, dozens of protestors gathered in Amsterdam to voice their outrage about the murder of a lady while in Iranian police custody. Iranians who reside in the Netherlands and students living in the city made up the majority of people who participated in the protest in the Dutch capital.

An International Issue

Iran is a member of the United Nations and also a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Article 19 of UDHR states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers".

ARTICLE 19 emphasizes that the videotape will not disprove claims of torture and other ill-treatment that may have occurred at the time of the arrest or during transportation to the detention facility, even if the woman represented in the recordings supplied by Iran's police forces is Mahsa/Jhina Amini. The distribution of such videos does not even come close to fulfilling the absolute minimum requirements set forth by international law and standards for state behavior in situations involving claims of torture and other cruel treatment and/or fatalities while in custody.

Iran’s law for wearing hijab 

Walking unveiled or without wearing a hijab in Iran is a punishable crime under the Islamic Hijab Rules. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranian law requires all women, regardless of nationality or religious belief, to wear a hijab covering the head and neck while concealing the hair.

A brief History of Hijab in Iran 

In Iran, the hijab has been mandatory for females since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

The government cites parts of the Quran, the sacred book of Islam, and the Hadiths, the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad, of the Quran, the sacred book of Islam, and the Hadiths, sayings of the Prophet Mohammad, are cited by the government to support the policy, even though the fact that Muslim religious text is ambiguous on the subject of whether women should wear veils.

The nation's morality police, who patrol the streets in vans detaining those who have "inappropriate" apparel, tightly enforce Islamic dress regulations. They go by the name Gasht-e Ershad (guidance patrols).

Millions of Iranian women openly defy the hijab, wearing the headscarf loosely over their heads and frequently letting it fall to their shoulders despite the possibility of arrest.

The mandatory hijab met with virtually immediate criticism. There were violent demonstrations in 1979 after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini suggested that women adhere to Islamic dress regulations. As a result, the authorities later clarified that his remarks were simply suggestions. In 1983, it was made a law.

Since then, there have been periodic protests against the hijab, which culminated in the dancing and burning of headscarves we see today.

Other laws in Iran that restrict women from exercising their rights

1. Women are allowed to participate in sports but are restricted from watching men play sports, including their male family members.  Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, a dual Iranian-British national, was arrested when she tried to appear in a volleyball game in Tehran.

2. Restrictions on free speech in Iran. According to Reporters Without Borders, Iran is one of the countries that imprisons the most journalists, bloggers, and social media activists worldwide. Even a Facebook post might result in someone being arrested there. Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post correspondent who is currently detained, was wrongfully imprisoned by Iran. People in Iran are sentenced to prison for "insulting" the supreme leader, the president, or other elected officials, which is against the law. 

3. Even married women are prohibited from leaving the nation without their husbands' consent. In reality, in September, Niloufar Ardalan, the captain of Iran's women's soccer team, was unable to participate in an international competition because her spouse banned her from going.

4. Iran holds regular elections, and Hassan Rouhani, the country's president, says he and many Iranians desire reforms. However, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wields a significant amount of the nation's power. Iran's military, judicial system, and media are all under the control of Khamenei's administration. The idea of "gender equality" was labeled “unacceptable to the Islamic Republic” by a conservative newspaper that frequently backs the Ayatollah.

Conclusion 

One could imagine what would happen to these most oppressed women who had little access to the press or social media under the rule of a misogynistic system where women were viewed as second-class citizens. Therefore, discussing issues like women's rights, human rights, environmental protection, etc., is a pointless luxury if nothing is done to isolate and overthrow Iran's religious system.

Women everywhere must speak out for their rights, not just those in Iran. There might be one Mahsa amini sacrificed now, but if all the women stood up for one another, it would save many future Mahsa Aminis.